Wilmot Proviso

The Wilmot Proviso was a proposed American law that was first suggested by Congressman David Wilmot on 8 August 1846 during the Mexican-American War. The bill had the goal of banning slavery in the states acquired during the Mexican Cession, and the proviso would have calmed northern fears about slavery while also increasing southern fears about abolitionism. The proviso twice passed in the US House of Representatives but not in the US Senate, and the proviso was ultimately rejected.